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1 2205 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC ABSTRACT Serra ÇELEBİ * Agency practitioners from PR agencies, advertising agencies, and other communication agencies and client practitioners from private and public organizations were surveyed regarding their perceptions and practices of integrated marketing communications (IMC). As a result of this study, agency practitioners evaluated PR and client practitioners evaluated advertising as the most important tool in the IMC development stage. Among Nowak and Phelps definitions of IMC, the one voice concept was seen as the most appropriate definition of IMC by them. Cost saving was considered as the least important benefit and high cost as the least important barrier of an IMC program. Keywords: Integrated marketing communications (IMC), advantages of integration, barriers for implementation, changes in the marketplace, Nowak and Phelps identification. INTRODUCTION Duncan and Everett (1993, p. 30) state about changes of marketplace below: The pressure to integrate marketing communications is a result of numerous factors. Key among these are communications agency mergers and acquisitions, increasing sophistication of clients and retailers, increasing cost of traditional advertising media, increasing global competition, increasing pressure on organizations, bottom lines, decreasing effectiveness of traditional media, the decreasing cost of database usage, and other trends such as zapping, media fragmentation, and loss of message credibility. The concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) has attracted greater attention and has been center of many studies in marketing; however, changes of marketplace, which is the fundamental and answer of the rise and development of IMC (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, and Li, 2004), have not been focus of the IMC studies. * Yasar University Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

2 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2206 Many researches in the field have concentrated on exploring IMC perceptions and implementations of agencies. They either have focused on advertising agencies (Schultz & Kitchen, 1997; Gould, Lerman, & Grein, 1999; Kitchen & Schultz, 1999) or have compared and contrasted advertising and public relations agencies (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, and Li, 2004; Kitchen & Li, 2005; Oyman & Inam, 2005). Some of them have researched clients perspectives of IMC (Low, 2000; McArthur & Griffin, 1997). The studies that included both agency and client practitioners perceptions and practices of IMC are limited with the studies by Duncan and Everett (1993) and Eagle and Kitchen (2000). Therefore, the purpose of this study, which compares client and agency practitioners opinions in Turkey, are six-fold: (1) To investigate the changes in the marketplace. (2) To learn the acceptance level of Nowak and Phelps definitions to IMC. (3) To discover the opinions on various benefits in implementing an IMC program. (4) To examine the importance levels of communication tools in developing an IMC program. (5) To reveal the existence of potential barriers in implementing an IMC program. (6) To observe if an effectiveness of an IMC program is measured and if its development is controlled. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND There are many marketplace changes that contributed to the growth of IMC such as the development of information technologies, powerful and global consumers, commercial clutter, audience and media fragmentation (Kitchen & Li, 2005). Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, and Li (2004, p. 1418) have a look at changes in the marketplace from the perspective of marketing communications business and note below that: The most basic driving force behind IMC is changes in the market environment in which business is conducted. No-one from either the academic arena, clients or marketing service organizations doubts that the marketing communications industry - including the structure of advertising agencies, the relationship between advertising agencies and public relations agencies, and even the function of various promotional tools - has undergone dramatic change over the last few decades. Çelebi, 2009

3 2207 Consumers Knowledge of Market Information The marketplace has been shaped and evolved from manufacturer and distributor orientation (product centric marketplace) to customer orientation (customer centric marketplace) (Kitchen & Li, 2005; Kliatchko, 2005). By the use of integrated marketing communications (IMC), marketers shifted from thinking inside out to outside in (Harris, 1998). Consumers have realized their power of forming the production stage of products on behalf of their needs and wants. The widespread availability of products has equipped consumers with market based information and they have started to compare products at ingredient level in the store aisles. This new market condition has created the perception that all brands in a category are the same; the only real difference is price. Besides, consumers are no longer homogenous, thus, mass market network television is no longer reliable to reach them (Richman, 1991). Proctor and Kitchen (2002) state that today s firms have been dealing with sophisticated and well educated consumers. According to Duncan (2002, p. 29) Customers in industrialized countries are sophisticated selectors of brands, and many in less developed markets are catching up fast. At the same time, they are smarter and more demanding, and they are also distrusting. Maloney (2000) states that mass media contributed to attitude change by making people curious about persuasive statements and this led people to seek further information by trying the advertised product. Some authors take a different view of contribution of mass media to consumers market knowledge. Schultz, Tannenbaum, and Lauterborn (1995) for example, disagree with what Richman (1991), Proctor and Kitchen (2002), and Duncan (2002) said about consumers marketplace information. Unlike them, Schultz et al. believe that this new market condition made consumers less informed. Since marketers underscore the price reductions of products and convince consumers that the products are pretty much the same. Managers became more sales promotion centered and shifted their advertising budgets to sales promotion in which discounts, samples, coupons, and cent-off-deals are used. Reduced advertising budget has led consumers to find less product information in the marketplace. Dwek (1993) argues that consumers are less informed than ever before in the information age. He offers PR as a solution in the creation of consumer confidence by supplying more information via news. Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

4 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2208 Nevertheless, Baker, Hunt, and Scribner (2002) distinguish between knowledgeable consumers and novices in relation to simple and complex message information. They suggest that knowledgeable consumers may ignore the simple information because of the fact that they already have it in memory; on the other hand, novices may not understand complex information. Thus, knowledgeable consumers should be provided with more complex information, while novices should be provided with simple information. The significance of this suggestion lies behind the notion that novices will be more influenced by new product information than knowledgeable consumers. Hines (1999) goes further by dividing target audience into two groups and believes that people have different media needs. According to him, some people are passive and need bombardment with billboards, radio commercials, signage, and special events. Others are more active and will seek out technical reports, web pages, and magazine reviews (p. 25). The Product Explosion and the Competition For Packard (1981), one of the major dilemmas which forced marketers to look for an effective and powerful persuasive communication tool is the identical products with the growing standardization. Duncan (2002, p. 29) states about brand and product proliferation as below: Forty years ago, the average grocery store carried about 8,000 items, counting all the brands and their different sizes and flavors. Today, that number is closer to 30,000. Such proliferation is not limited to items in food, drug, and mass merchandising stores. The number of services has also expanded. Look in the Yellow Pages and you ll find dozens of competing companies in most service categories. Customers can suffer from brand-choice overload when there are too many products, too many brands, and too many commercial messages. The product explosion and the competition, decreased the duration of the average product lifetime in a market. Hannies ( ) stated that the average product lifetime has changed since the early 20 th Century. It used to be 50 years during the early 20 th Century. It had dramatically shrunk to 50 months by the end of the Korean War and had shrunk further to 50 weeks in the 1990s. Today, the average product lifetime is 50 days. Çelebi, 2009

5 2209 The Media Explosion and Advertising Clutter Many believe that consumers are less likely to believe advertising (Lamons, 2002; Hallahan, 1999; Crooke, 1996), advertising is in decline, because it is too expensive (Harris, 1993, 1994; Kitchen, 1996; Strout, 1999) and therefore, there are emphasis and expenditure on MPR (Kitchen, 1996). Many organizations have seen integrated marketing communications as a solution to cluttered marketing environment and have responded to changing marketplace by integrating their communication efforts (Hackley & Kitchen, 1998). Marken (1995) claims that: The consumers demand for better product value as well as more service and support have made management realize they have to do a better job of communicating the good work they were doing beyond new product advertising. In addition, the rising clutter of advertising has forced management to look for additional and more cost-effective means of communicating (p. 47). Harris (1998) reports the statement below with regard to the natural result of advertising clutter and media diversity: In a communication saturated society, consumers develop communication avoidance routines. They don t notice print ads; they tune out commercial messages. Message senders are finding it increasingly difficult to reach the minds and hearts of target customers. As mass advertising and even target advertising loses some of their cost-effectiveness, message senders are driven to other media. They discover, or rediscover, the power of news, events, community programs, atmospheres, and other powerful communication modalities (p. 14). The above discussion of the literature creates the following research question: RQ1: What are the changes in the marketplace according to agency and client practitioners? Do practitioners agree that IMC is a solution to those changes? Various Definitions of IMC Varying terminologies have been given to integrated marketing communications (IMC) such as. new advertising, orchestration, 360 branding, total branding, Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

6 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2210 whole egg, seamless communication, relationship marketing, one-to-one marketing, integrated marketing, and integrated communications (Kliatchko, 2005, p. 7; see also Oyman & İnam, 2005, p. 390). The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) in 1989 provided a definition for IMC that: A concept of marketing communication planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and PR and combines them to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact through the seamless integration discrete messages (quoted in Christensen, Torp, & Firat, 2005, p. 160). Before the study conducted by Caywood, Schultz, and Wang in 1991 (which is considered as the first study on IMC), there were little discussion, description, and effort for developing the concept. The Caywood et al. study scattered the concept of the integration of the marketing communication activities (as cited in Schultz & Kitchen, 1997; Kitchen & Schultz, 1999; Kitchen, 2005). Integrated marketing communication is the concept in which an organization s communication elements including PR, advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and others are combined and closely coordinated within a single unit (Shimp, 1993). From the organization s standpoint marketing communications may serve several purposes: it may increase awareness; it may create demand for a product by providing incentives; and it may help to distinguish the brand from competing products (Churchill & Peter, 1995). For Varey (1998, p. 181) marketing communications has the role of converting prospects into customers and retaining existing customers-it is thus primarily promotional in nature and intent. Harris (1998) clarifies that: Integrated marketing communications is the culmination of the shift that began in the post- World War II period, from selling what we make to making what consumers want. IMC is Çelebi, 2009

7 2211 focused on what customers want to know about products and services, not what marketers want to tell them in order to sell them (p. 3). Nowak and Phelps (1994) identify three broad concepts of IMC: the one voice concept, the integrated marketing communications concept, and the coordinated marketing communications concept. The one voice concept reflects a firm s focus on a single message, theme, image, and position that emphasize unity among all marketing communications tools including brand advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and direct response advertising. The one voice concept underlines unity among various communication tools so that a single positioning strategy can be created. The integrated marketing communications concept promotes brand image and consumer behavior by focusing on advertising, public relations, and so on. The coordinated marketing communications concept emphasizes the coordination of the various marketing communications tools in order to reach multiple audiences with a synergistic effort (see also Gould, Lerman, & Grein, 1999; Kliatchko, 2005; Grove, Carlson, & Dorsch, 2002; Grove, Carlson, & Dorsch, 2007). For Kitchen, Brignell, Li, and Spickettjones (2004), the once voice concept is the starting point of integrated marketing communications. Kitchen et al. (2004, p. 19) state that Certainly, if its meaning simply amounts to bundling promotional mix elements together to create the one voice phenomenon, then it is not saying much that is new, relevant, or even interesting. Yet, this was the starting point of IMC. IMC concept should be much more comprehensive than the one voice concept in nature, as it requires a complete harmony with employees of an organization, products, services, distribution channels, sales power, pricing, POP, after sale services, total quality, reliability and satisfaction of working area, and consumer satisfaction (Bozkurt, 2000). Recently, we have started to see a new term being used as Integrated Communications (IC) in place of IMC (Grunig & Grunig, 1998; Wightman, 1999; Richman, 1991). M was dropped from IMC to make the concept more suitable to public relations and advertising. Another reason of dropping the M was a need to expand the definition to include stakeholders other than consumers (Grunig & Grunig, 1998). Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

8 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2212 Richman (1991) defines IC as: Integrated communications is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications disciplines-for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion and public relations-and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact through the seamless integration of discrete messages (p. 11). In light of the literature review for the possible definitions of IMC, a research question was designed as below: RQ2: How do agency and client practitioners define IMC? Which one of Nowak and Phelps (1994) identifications of IMC does best describe practitioners view? Advantages of Integration Blending integrated marketing communications elements harmoniously increases marketers opportunity of meeting with their customers. Although it is difficult to evaluate the results of programs, the marketers have more advantages from integration, since the same message which is delivered through various communication techniques and several media outlets, increases the efficiency of transmission (Brannan, 1995). Integrated marketing communications has various advantages. It brings all the communication tasks under one roof, and enables management to determine which tools are more effective with certain audiences through different media. The Energizer battery campaign, for example, was successful in making the pink bunny memorable on TV commercials, but failed to make Energizer memorable. When the company put the bunny on its packaging and point-of-purchase (POP) displays, sales increased in the US (Hines, 1999). IMC means a company delivers the same message by various communication tools to its several target markets including stakeholders, employees, shareholders, customers, and community leaders. PR materials for example, say the same things as direct mail and advertising (Lindell, 1997). That is, all of the publics of the organization will hear the same message that is delivered through different communication functions which may not be easier ( Difficult market, 2002). Meanwhile, the value of IMC lies not only combining multiple Çelebi, 2009

9 2213 communication or promotional tools (e.g., advertising is combined with public relations), but also combining media tools (e.g., television is combined with print media) (Stammerjohan, Wood, Chang, & Thorson, 2005). Other benefits of IMC are decreased media waste, cost effectiveness, coordination, consistency of communication programs, more creative works, and well-defined strategy (Kliatchko, 2005). The research question on the benefits of IMC follows: RQ3: According to agency and client practitioners what are the benefits of an IMC program? And which communication tools are more important in developing an IMC program? Barriers to Implementation The sensitive issue which requires an explanation is that there are some obstacles for implementing IMC. The problem is that the message offered in communication often comes from different company sources. Advertising messages are planned and implemented by the advertising department or advertising agency. Sales management develops personal selling communications. Other functional specialists are responsible for public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and other forms of marketing communications. Nevertheless, promotion budget should be split in terms of different departments (Bozkurt, 2000). The existence of different organizational cultures and structures between agencies and client s organizations could be a serious limiting factor of IMC planning (Eagle & Kitchen, 2000). The difficulty of evaluating the results of IMC programs is another obstacle and a severe criticism to IMC (Eagle & Kitchen, 2000; Schultz & Kitchen, 2000; Kitchen, Brignell, Li, & Spickettjones, 2004; Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). It will be difficult to evaluate the results of IMC; because, it includes the integration and operation of various communication tools under one roof. If the result is successful, finding and evaluating which tool(s) contributed to the success and which tool(s) failed will be challenging. Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

10 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2214 IMC is considered as an expense by the management of many organizations and during economic crisis, budget reductions start from reducing communication expenses of the organizations (Oyman & İnam, 2005). Other reasons why there may be some barriers for implementing IMC can be derived from fear of change, short term planning, hierarchical organization, inside out communications planning, media fragmentation, and lack of database development. The best solution is to have support from the top management. Since integration cannot be accomplished by the middle managers, commitment from the top management for integration is essential (Gonring, 1994). Scholars have been approaching the integration from different perspectives. PR scholars, for example, feel that PR should have a dominant function; while marketing scholars think that marketing function should be dominant in the integration. Each discipline has initial interest in coming first in this new structure, thus it is hard to find agreement on the issue (Wightman, 1999). Batra, Myers, and Aaker (1996) offer a solution to this integration problem by suggesting advertising professionals as a coordinator. They believe that the easiest way to organise for IMC is to have just one outside communications supplier, such as an ad agency, and to have centralized responsibility for all brand communications within the client company... (p. 102). However, it is difficult to plan and implement IMC with an outside agency. Because, it will be difficult to share organizational information with an independent agency which mainly located outside, and therefore, is far from the organization. On the other hand, Lyes (2000), Grunig and Grunig (1998), and Richman (1991) believe that marketing communications strategy should be brought under the PR roof. PR professionals have the education and skills to orchestrate and coordinate all of these communication messages of a company. Grunig and Grunig say that different disciplines recognize different problems. Marketing department would see the problem of selling products, human resources department would see the problem of motivating employees, finance department would see the problem of acquiring resources, and finally manufacturing department would see the problem of Çelebi, 2009

11 2215 producing products as being most important. He also suggests that the importance of public relations is to bring these different problems and their solutions into the strategic management arena. PR practitioners are in the best position to manage the integrated communication process because they are involved in every facet of the organization. Nevertheless, Hartley and Pickton (1999) report that customer contact management and database management are relatively important functions; therefore, they should be considered in an area of integration. In a study, Low (2000) found that small, consumer focused, service oriented companies tend to be more integrated and likely to practice IMC rather than big, company focused, and product oriented companies. Richman (1991) sees this problem as lack of education. She believes that marketers have a strong business background but lack of communication skills. In general, marketers are trained in business schools and do not have enough knowledge on communication and media relations. They are also trained to focus on getting short-term results in place of long-term relationships with the public. The related research question is as below: RQ4: What are the most serious barriers of an IMC program according to client and agency practitioners? Who controls the development of an IMC program? Do practitioners measure the effectiveness of an IMC program? RESEARCH METHOD An electronic survey conducted in the form of a questionnaire. The survey instrument consists of multiple choice questions and a 7-point Likert scale rating with scales ranging from very strongly disagree to very strongly agree and from very strongly unimportant to very strongly important. The questions of this survey study (see Appendix) were created by looking at both previous researches in IMC (e.g., Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004; Kitchen & Li, 2005) and by reviewing the related literature. The participants were queried with multiple choice questions about the type of organization they work for, their job position, IMC as a solution to changes in the marketplace, controlling the development and measuring the effectiveness of an IMC program. The participants were also asked to rate their opinions with a 7-point Likert scale Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

12 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2216 about changes in the marketplace, the definitions of the IMC, the importance of tools, the benefits and the barriers of an IMC program. Nowak and Phelps (1994) three approaches to the IMC concept (the one voice concept, the integrated marketing communications concept, and the coordinated marketing communications concept) were included in the study. In the questionnaire, the one voice concept was defined as It is bundling promotional mix elements together to create the onevoice ; the integrated marketing communications concept was identified as It is a program in which unified messages are delivered to consumers ; and the coordinated marketing communications concept was described as It is a coordination and implementation of all communication elements of an organization (e.g., advertising, PR, direct marketing, logos, jingles, and so on). The research sample was selected from the member list of the Association of Public Relations in Turkey (Turkiye Halkla İliskiler Derneği), the Turkish Association of Advertising Agencies (Reklamcılar Derneği), the Association of Advertising Creators (Reklam Yaratıcıları Derneği), the Association of Advertisers (Reklam Verenler Derneği), the Association of Indoor & Outdoor Advertising (Açıkhava Reklamcıları Derneği), the International Advertising Association in Turkey (Uluslararası Reklamcılık Derneği) and the member list of the Advertising Agencies and PR and Communication Consultancy Firms of the World of Marketing (Pazarlama Dünyası) Internet cite 1. While deciding about the research sample purposive sampling was employed. Agency practitioners who are responsible of IMC from PR agencies, advertising agencies, and other communication agencies and client practitioners who are in charge of IMC activities in their organizations from the private and public sector would seem to be necessary to be included in this exploratory study. The total sample size of the study was 1461 and the sample size for the Association of Public Relations in Turkey was 93; for the Turkish Association of Advertising Agencies was 81; 1 Sektörel Şirketler (n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2008, from Çelebi, 2009

13 2217 for the Association of Advertising Creators was 255; for the Association of Advertisers was 57; for the Association of Indoor & Outdoor Advertising was 141; for the International Advertising Association in Turkey was 82; for the Advertising Agencies of the World of Marketing Internet cite was 548; and for the PR and Communication Consultancy Firms of the World of Marketing Internet cite was 204. The study was conducted by electronic mail and the questionnaires were sent out three times in two months time. The study produced 48 responses and 47 of them were in a useable format. The response rate of the study is 3.2%. Cronbach's alpha was found as highly reliable: The SPSS computer package was used; frequencies and mean scores were computed to analyze the findings. FINDINGS Profile of the Practitioners The total of 47 respondents including agency practitioners (57.4%) and client practitioners (42.6%) agreed to participate to the study. The respondents participation was from public relations agencies (10.6%), advertising agencies (29.8%), private and public organizations (42.6%), and other communications agencies (17.0%). 41 of the respondents were holding managerial position and 6 of them were holding staff position in their workplace. Table 1 Profile of the Practitioners Frequency % Type of practitioner Agency practitioner Client practitioner Type of agency PR agency Advertising agency Other communication Agencies Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

14 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2218 Job title Manager Staff N=47 Changes in the Marketplace Table 2 shows how client and agency practitioners responded to various statements on changes in the marketplace. Agency and client practitioners displayed strongest agreement for today s companies are dealing with well educated, sophisticated and savvy consumers. On the other hands, agency and client practitioners didn t agree with the statements that advertising is in decline, because it is too expensive and consumers are less likely to believe advertising. Changes Table 2 Changes in the Marketplace Agency practitioners Client Practitioners Mean SD Mean SD Advertising is in decline, because it is too expensive There are increased emphasis and expenditure on MPR MPR is a solution in the creation of consumer confidence by supplying more information via news Consumers are less likely to believe advertising The product explosion and the competition, decreased the duration of the average product lifetime in a market place Today s companies are dealing with well educated, sophisticated and savvy consumers There is a shift of advertising budget to sales promotion Heavy uses of sales promotion materials made consumers less informed about products and services Note: A seven-point Likert scale was used, where 7=very strongly agree and 1=very strongly disagree Çelebi, 2009

15 2219 IMC as a Solution to Changes in the Marketplace Table 3 outlines the practitioners agreement for IMC as a solution to various changes in the marketplace. The majority of agency and client practitioners agreed that IMC was a solution to such changes. Table 3 The Practitioners Agreement for IMC as a Solution to Changes in the Marketplace IMC is a solution to these changing factors in the marketplace Not sure Yes (%) No (%) (%) Total Type of practitioner agency practitioner client practitioner N The Definitions of IMC Among the various definitions of IMC, Nowak and Phelps identification of three broad concepts of IMC were tested in this study. Agency practitioners agreed with a higher mean score that IMC is bundling promotional mix elements together to create one-voice. This definition considers IMC as one voice concept which is among Nowak and Phelps approaches. Client practitioners also agreed on the same approach in addition to accepting that IMC is a strategic business process in which a brand oriented communication program is used as an ideal definition of IMC. Table 4 Various Definitions of IMC Definitions It is a coordination and implementation of all communication elements of an organization (e.g., advertising, PR, direct marketing, logos, jingles, and so on) It is a program in which unified messages are delivered to consumers It is a terminology that refers to the coordination of advertising program or PR program It is a strategic business process in which a brand oriented communication program is used It is bundling promotional mix elements together to create onevoice Agency practitioners Mean SD Client Practitioners Mean SD Note: A seven-point Likert scale was used, where 7=very strongly agree and 1=very strongly disagree Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

16 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2220 The Importance of Tools in Developing an IMC Program It is important to note that there was a difference between agency and cleint practitioners perceptions for the importance of communication tools. Although one third of agency practitioners were from advertising agencies, agency practitioners saw public relations as the most important communication tool in developing an IMC program. Client practitioners, on the other hands, ranked advertising as the most important element of an IMC development program. Table 5 The Importance of Tools Tools Agency practitioners Client Practitioners Mean SD Mean SD Advertising PR Sales promotion Direct marketing Personal selling Note: A seven-point Likert scale was used, where 7=very strongly important and 1=very strongly unimportant The Benefits of an IMC Program Increased communication effectiveness and greater communication consistency were considered the most obvious benefits of an IMC program by both agency and client practitioners. The practitioners rated cost savings as the least important benefit of an IMC program (See Table 6). Çelebi, 2009

17 2221 Benefits Table 6 The Benefits of an IMC Program Agency practitioners Client Practitioners Mean SD Mean SD Increased communication effectiveness Cost savings Improved decision making Clearly defined roles Improved media effect It gives a company a competitive edge Greater communication consistency Management and coordination of the various agencies Focusing the campaign on the customers' needs Note: A seven-point Likert scale was used, where 7=very strongly agree and 1=very strongly disagree The Barriers to an IMC Program Among the several barriers to an IMC program, client's tendency of concentration on short term goals and difficulty of involvement of client s top management were considered to be the most serious barrier by agency practitioners. Difficulty of controlling other participating agencies, on the other hands, was seen as the most serious barrier by client practitioners. High cost of running an IMC program was attrected the least agreement by agnecy and cleint practitioners as being a barrier to an IMC program. Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

18 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2222 Barriers Table 7 The Barriers to an IMC Program Agency practitioners Client Practitioners Mean SD Mean SD Difficulty of involvement of client's top management Difficulty of controlling other participating agencies Turf battles among the participating agencies Client's organizational structure constrains IMC Client's corporate culture constrains IMC Participating agency's different organizational structures constrain IMC Participating agency's different corporate cultures constarin IMC High cost of running an IMC program Lack of specialized staff to participate in an IMC program Client's tendency of concentration on short term goals Clients see agency people as creative people and not involved in strategy creation and important decisions There is an indefiniteness on who should manage the various types of communications under one roof The difficulty of aligning corporate and marketing messages Note: A seven-point Likert scale was used, where 7=very strongly agree and 1=very strongly disagree Controlling the Development of an IMC Program It is seen from Table 8 that the majority of client and agency practitiorens agreed that controlling the development of an IMC program is jointly conducted which shows an ideal approach to a control mechanism. Çelebi, 2009

19 2223 Table 8 Controlling the Development of an IMC Program Type of practitioner agency practitioner % Client practitioner % N Advertising agency jointly by advertising agency and client jointly by PR agency and client jointly by Ad agency, PR agency and client by all responsible parties Other Total Measuring the Effectiveness of an IMC Program The majority of both client and agency practitioners claimed that they measured the effectiveness of an IMC program after it had been conducted. Table 9 Measuring the effectiveness of an IMC Program Type of practitioner Agency practitioner % Client practitioner % N Yes sometimes No Total CONCLUSIONS AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS Although the sample of this study is a small portion of Turkish agency and client practitioners, the results show certain trends, attitudes, executions, and problems in IMC concept. Journal of Yasar University, 4(14),

20 AGENCY AND CLIENT PRACTITIONERS PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF IMC 2224 Changes in the Marketplace Agency and client practitioners agreed that consumers are well educated, savvy, and sophisticated than ever before and today s companies task of reaching them is more challenging as they are dealing with such consumers (Richman, 1991; Proctor and Kitchen, 2002; Duncan, 2002; but not Schultz, Tannenbaum, and Lauterborn,1995 or Dwek, 1993). This shows that consumers in Turkey are also considered careful selectors and with this characteristic they are not much different than consumers abroad. Agency and client practitioners didn t support that consumers are less likely to believe advertising (Lamons, 2002; Hallahan, 1999; Crooke, 1996) and advertising is in decline, because it is too expensive (Harris, 1993, 1994; Kitchen, 1996; Strout, 1999). Agency and client practitioners were also uncertain about increased emphasis and expenditure on MPR, not providing support for Kitchen s (1996) research result conducted in the UK. This research result reveals Turkish practitioners opinions on various maters and why they think in this way remains unanswered. It may be because they still use advertising as a primary communication tool in their programs which may be investigated and can be the focus of other studies in Turkey. IMC as a Solution to Changes in the Marketplace There is a strong belief among practitioners that IMC is an answer to changes in the marketplace (Hackley & Kitchen, 1998). The Definitions of IMC Among Nowak and Phelps (1994) three approaches to IMC, the one voice concept was seen as an appropriate definition of IMC. Agency practitioners raked the one voice concept as the most appropriate and client practitioners as the second most appropriate definition by supporting the statement based on MC is bundling promotional mix elements together to create one-voice. This may show that Turkish practitioners have been unifying messages by blending communication mix elements to each other. The one voice concept is considered as the beginning stage of the IMC concept by Kitchen, Brignell, Li, and Çelebi, 2009

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